Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 56294 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 281(@200wpm)___ 225(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56294 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 281(@200wpm)___ 225(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
My cell phone rings, my personal one. I take it from my inside suit jacket pocket. It’s Paul. I answer right away. Paul and I are still close despite living on different sides of the country. I moved to the East Coast office three years ago when the company went public, but Paul visits several times a year. We video chat all the time. I’m always happy to forget about my troubles for a while by talking with my best buddy.
“Bit early for you to be up, isn’t it?” I say, laughing. “It’s hardly nine a.m. there.”
“Kaleb?” It’s a woman’s voice. The emotion in her tone makes me sit up. “It’s… it’s bad.”
“What’s bad?” I say. “Who is this?”
“Sophie,” she replies, and now she sounds a little offended. Or maybe that’s my imagination.
She sounds different. The last time I saw her, she was, what, sixteen? She must be nineteen now. She sounds like a woman.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s Paul. He’s been in an accident.”
CHAPTER TWO
Sophie
This has nothing to do with the crush. Whatever happens—if it’s just this phone call or Kaleb decides to fly over—I will never let my silly, girlish childhood crush get in the way of their friendship. My brother needs me now.
I sit in the hospital, cell phone pressed hard against my ear, chewing on my fingernails. It’s a bad habit that I could only quit when Kaleb moved away. Without him constantly in my life, it was like I could calm the wild sea, the waves that battered against me every time I saw or spoke to him.
“What kind of accident?” he asks, his voice cold and difficult to read, but Kaleb has always seemed distant to me. Why wouldn’t he be? I’m just the annoying kid sister.
“He was biking a trail, hit something, and went over the handlebars. He’s torn up his leg pretty badly, and he has a concussion. He’s with the doctors right now. I’m not sure…” I stop, emotion gripping me. Across from me, Gwen gives me a tight smile of support. “He hasn’t woken up yet. They think there could be a bl-bl…” I take a breath. “Bleeding in his brain.”
“Jesus Christ,” Kaleb growls. “What hospital are you at?” When I tell him, he says, “I’m leaving right now. I’ll be there soon.”
Just like that? I expected him to have to arrange his business. “Okay. Great. Thank you.”
“It’s Paul,” he says, then hangs up.
That sums it up perfectly. They’ve been friends since before I was born. That’s not difficult, considering there’s a twenty-year age gap between me and my brother. Our parents had Paul in their late teens and me when they were almost too old. Paul has been like a dad to me, as much as an older brother.
It’s Paul. That’s what it really comes down to. Kaleb and Paul are like brothers. Of course, he’d drop everything to support his best friend.
“All good?” Gwen asks, then winces. “Sorry. Stupid question.”
I touch my friend’s hand. She looks sleepy, rushing over here as soon as I called her. I know she was out on the town last night. It means a lot that she’s here. She smiles, but there’s a note of sadness in it.
“He said he’s coming straight here,” I tell her.
Gwen sits up. She’s a tall woman with sharp, attractive features, even without makeup. We’re like opposites.
“You can say it,” I point out.
She shakes her head. “I wasn’t going to say anything.”
“But you’re thinking it.”
“Well, if Kaleb is going to be here…”
“I know. I need not to write our names surrounded by love hearts. Or write love notes to him. Or dream about being his fairy-tale princess. Don’t worry. I’m not a sixteen-year-old idiot anymore, just a nineteen-year-old idiot.”
“You’re not an idiot at all,” Gwen says.
“I was trying to be lighthearted. I guess my tone messed me up, but I mean it. The crush is in the past.”
“Are you sure?” Gwen asks.
No. “Yes, I am. Certain. I had a crush. It’s over now. I’m not a little kid anymore.”
Gwen nods. “I think that’s for the best. Things could get very messy otherwise.”
“Anyway, even if I did have a crush, which I don’t, he’s Kaleb Kennison. He’s a millionaire. Maybe even a billionaire. He could have anybody.”
Gwen doesn’t say anything, which is basically the same as agreeing. I know she wants the best for me. She doesn’t want me to put myself out there, ruin my relationship with my brother, ruin his friendship with Kaleb, and break my heart all at the same time.
“Miss Johnson?”
I look up to find the doctor standing there, his expression infuriatingly unreadable.
“Yes?” I spring to my feet. “Don’t keep me in suspense.”
“Your brother’s awake,” he tells me, “but it’s going to be a tough road to recovery.”
CHAPTER THREE
Kaleb
“Wait… what?” Tyrone springs up when I tell him the news.